FLETCHER, John William
| Service Number: | 6509 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 August 1916, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 10th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Derby, England, 1895 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Memorials: | Loxton and District Great War Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Aug 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6509, 10th Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 6509, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: '' | |
| 23 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 6509, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Adelaide | |
| 9 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 6509, 10th Infantry Battalion, Discharged in UK. Did not return to Australia. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
John William Fletcher was born in approximately 1895 in Derby, England. At some stage he migrated to Australia and, by the time he enlisted, was living in Adelaide as a farmer. His mother, whom he named as his next of kin, was still living in Derbyshire. John was quite short, only 5 feet 3 inches tall, with blues eyes and brown hair. He enlisted for the war on 18 August 1916 and was assigned to the 10th Battalion with the service number 6509.
After a little training, John embarked from Melbourne on 21 October 1916 and arrived at Devonport in England on 21 December. He spent some months training in E gland and arrived in France in April, joining the 10th Battalion for the first time on 10 April 1917. He was wounded for the first time in the fighting on the Menin Road on 20 September 1917, suffering a wound to the right arm. He rejoined his unit on 23 December but was wounded again only three days later, this time on his left index finger. This wound saw him evacuated to England. By April 1918 he had recovered and spent the remainder of the war in various training depts around England. He did return to France and his unit after the Armistice, in November 1918. He was discharged from the AIF while still in London on 9 October 1919 and remained in England. A letter on his service record from a farmer in Derby requests his discharge and notes John has been offered work, so it is likely he remained in England after the war.